Comments on: Against Martyrdomhttp://www.harpyness.com/2009/06/23/against-martyrdom/
As narrated by the most charming and vicious women on the internetSun, 12 Jul 2015 20:00:14 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.9By: Reflection: what Edward Said brings to the discussion of Neda Soltani | flo's funkhttp://www.harpyness.com/2009/06/23/against-martyrdom/comment-page-1/#comment-65776
Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:55:58 +0000http://www.harpyness.com/?p=7973#comment-65776[...] post on Racialicious and “Pilgrim Soul” at Pursuit of Happyness both challenge readers to ask if using Soltani as a martyr is right. I also [...]
]]>By: ImTheMarigoldhttp://www.harpyness.com/2009/06/23/against-martyrdom/comment-page-1/#comment-10581
Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:41:12 +0000http://www.harpyness.com/?p=7973#comment-10581@aspiringexpatriate, offtopic, thanks for offering up the Joss Whedonism. always appreciated.
]]>By: SoulPilgrimhttp://www.harpyness.com/2009/06/23/against-martyrdom/comment-page-1/#comment-10542
Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:47:57 +0000http://www.harpyness.com/?p=7973#comment-10542Martyr narratives are to be distrusted not so much because they tend to make one self-congratulatory, but because they often cause the reader/viewer/witness to unconsciously identify with the aggression that did the martyr in. We do that because a lot of aggression is so horrifying that we cannot witness it without internalizing the violence, and identifying with it to some extent.

When I saw the Neda video, I felt I was being trauma bonded–that is, I was so horrified that I was internalizing the violence that killed her. I knew it was happening, first, because I am writing a book about trauma bonding, I’m studying it, and I know how it works. The give-away was the fact that I was getting so angry I felt like just whacking somebody out to get even. I had a few fantasies about beating the hell out of oppressors/fascists/thugs. But when you have those kinds of fantasies, the bad guys are still inside you afterwards.

So I spent the day writing a poem about Neda, to break the effect of the trauma (or near-trauma) I’d had when I saw the video. It had overwhelmed my defenses and taken residence in my gut.

I beat the aggression that I’d internalized, and got out of the cycle of violence by working on the poem all day. I didn’t get any work done on my book, but I got the hate out of my innards, at least mostly so.

I honored Neda. And I did it for me. I don’t want her death to be part of any cycle, or violence or anything else. That’s the dangerous part of the cycle of aggression we’re stuck in. And for me, on this day, it damn well worked.

Okay, here’s the poem.

Neda
Voice of the Divine
stay with us
stay with us

Make us hear you
Help us hear you.

Your blood, our blood.

Sweet remembrances of friends, family
live forever in laughter.
Laughter is the prayer of children
who live without fear.

Hear them.
Hear them.
Always with us,

dear Neda!

Okay, it’s not great, but it got the stink of the oppressor our of my body. I kept thinking about Neda as my daughter. I have a Muslim daughter, and if my kid died that way, I don’t think I could take it.

SoulPilgrim is my real user-name, by the way. I’ll use another if it’s too close to yours. Thanks for bringing up a sensitive and important topic.

]]>By: aspiringexpatriatehttp://www.harpyness.com/2009/06/23/against-martyrdom/comment-page-1/#comment-10537
Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:27:40 +0000http://www.harpyness.com/?p=7973#comment-10537@Becky: I thought PSoul wasn’t addressing you, but the massive amount of self-absorbed people who are being self-congratulatory for watching this.

Making men and women into better or worse than they are is a longstanding human tradition, but we only really find the value and greatness in ourselves when we realize that all of the heroes and villains of the world are simply human beings. (Course, we also find the fear, violence and psychopaths this way.)

Personally, I had no desire to watch it, but when it was presented to me on a news program I didn’t stop watching. I’ve just seen enough death on documentaries that I know it is unpleasant to witness, though I think necessary.

And before I start sounding too self-absorbed, I’ll exit with someone else’s words:It’s my estimation that every man ever got a statue made of him was one kind of sommbitch or another. Ain’t about you, Jayne. It’s about what they need.

]]>By: BeckySharperhttp://www.harpyness.com/2009/06/23/against-martyrdom/comment-page-1/#comment-10528
Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:03:41 +0000http://www.harpyness.com/?p=7973#comment-10528@PSoul: You said to me: “What I am saying is that the urge to be self-congratulatory about this whole thing is to be resisted.” And I’m saying is that you’re right and that there’s nothing self-congratulatory about what I’m advocating.
]]>By: Pilgrim Soulhttp://www.harpyness.com/2009/06/23/against-martyrdom/comment-page-1/#comment-10527
Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:56:46 +0000http://www.harpyness.com/?p=7973#comment-10527Okay, Becky, I’m just confused, because no one ever claimed it wasn’t.
]]>By: BeckySharperhttp://www.harpyness.com/2009/06/23/against-martyrdom/comment-page-1/#comment-10526
Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:54:38 +0000http://www.harpyness.com/?p=7973#comment-10526@PilgrimSoul: I don’t think there’s anything self-congratulatory about bearing witness, at least, not what we’ve been talking about in this thread. There’s relatively little I can do materially to help protesters in Iran. I can, however, be aware and speak up about it on my end of things. I have free speech, and I can use it.

I’m not saying we should go “oh, I’m bearing witness, that makes me a good person” and pat pat our own backs. I’m just saying that witnessing a movement and honoring people’s struggles by doing so is a valid and worthwhile response.

]]>By: Pilgrim Soulhttp://www.harpyness.com/2009/06/23/against-martyrdom/comment-page-1/#comment-10525
Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:45:53 +0000http://www.harpyness.com/?p=7973#comment-10525Becky: I am not saying they should not broadcast things on the internet. What I am saying is that the urge to be self-congratulatory about this whole thing is to be resisted.
]]>By: BeckySharperhttp://www.harpyness.com/2009/06/23/against-martyrdom/comment-page-1/#comment-10524
Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:44:22 +0000http://www.harpyness.com/?p=7973#comment-10524@PilgrimSoul: Bearing witness is a worldwide phenomenon, not just an Iranian one.

If it weren’t for the foreign media and the internet (which is not Iranian) running those photos and video clips, a lot of what’s happening would go unseen, both within Iran and throughout the world. And, interestingly, a lot of what’s getting through via Twitter and Facebook is made possible by dedicated IT-savvy expats who are helping keep to poke holes in the regime-imposed firewalls so the images can get out of Iran.

]]>By: Pilgrim Soulhttp://www.harpyness.com/2009/06/23/against-martyrdom/comment-page-1/#comment-10523
Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:38:53 +0000http://www.harpyness.com/?p=7973#comment-10523Sure, but Becky, last I checked, Iranians seemed perfectly capable of bearing their own witness this time around, with Twitter and YouTube thrown in to grow the audience. Here, beyond merely knowing that someone is dead – and in fact, many people are – the bearing witness accomplishes very little except to lull the subject into a sense of complacency: “I’ve felt bad, so I’ve done what I can.”
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